It’s Raining Men in Anchorage this week

This one is a little strange story that I should probably not make light of but it struck me a little funny when I heard that from my co-worker Kelly this morning.

The last two or three summers have not been very nice to us with more rain and clouds than previous years. Last summer there one only one day that the temperature hit 70 degrees and that was only for about 2 hours, not much of a summer for my tastes.

This spring it has been wonderful with pleasant weather for almost a month now. We had not had any precipitation since the snow quit in mid April and this morning I awoke to a nice light rain. It helps wash away the dust and debris left from a long hard winter with the crews still working hard to clean up all of the road sand/gravel mixture before the main contingent of tourist arrive.

Anchorage is a vibrant town with a lot of pride in both how the city looks after another winter and in our residents. For a city of our size we probably have a slightly higher population of homeless than other cities because of our Native and our seasonal workers. There are many who come here during the winter months who are looking for those fishing industry jobs or many who leave the villages for what ever reason looking for a better life.

Once the snow clears and things dry out there is a massive clean up of the city. Volunteers hit the streets to fill up plastic bags of all the trash and debris that has blown around during the winter months. Companies like BP, Conoco Phillips, and KTUU Channel 2 provides the free bags for everyone’s use. It takes several weeks of cleanup but it seems like no rock is left unturned.

Now for the strangeness of this week.

During one of the many cleanups on Monday a body was discovered just off one of the many bicycle trails in the brush. It was not immediately known exactly how long it had been there but appeared to be recent without the effects of being buried in the snow for some time.

Wednesday brought the discovery of yet another man found in another location and police say it does not appear to be related. Today it was revealed that both were homeless and apparently died from natural causes but the investigations are ongoing.

This morning during the rain showers another body was discovered along the Glenn Highway. It must be raining men in Anchorage bringing with it weird thoughts about them falling from the sky all over town. The past history of Anchorage had a serial killer, Robert Hanson who for several years stalked the transients and hookers luring them only to rape and turn them loose in the wilds of Alaska only to stalk and murder them. This was in the ‘boom days’ of the 70’s and 80’s during the pipeline construction. Could it be we could have something like that again? Probably not but the thoughts of those past times comes quickly to mind for some people.

The body found on the Glenn Highway today was found to be the victim of a hit and run accident. He was on a motorcycle which apparently broke down on the side of the road where he moved it off the roadway and started walking down the road or hitching a ride where he was struck and killed. His body was several hundred yards from where his motorcycle was discovered in the brush alongside the roadway.

I know it’s not the best thing to find humor in other people’s misfortune but after a crazy week and the news for several days in a row of bodies turning up all over town it seemed the only plausible thing . . . Men falling from the skies over Anchorage.

After all, several years ago we had “Men in Trees” so we are always on the lookout for the next round of strangeness in this beautiful and unique place we call home.

Condolences to the families of those recently found and hopefully they left us from natural causes with no malice inflicted to them.

Today’s rain was nice for a brief change but everyone is looking forward to a great dry summer with plenty of fishing.

Ice